Flooding field up for auction - anyone fancy building a harbour or lighthouse?

Posted: 07/03/2018

The locally known "Horse's Field" on the junction of Chequers Street and Huntingdon Road [opposite the King Bill pub] is up for auction, now the current owner no longer living locally, wishes to dispose of it.

This site is renowned for flooding not only in winter but also occurring at any time during the year when the river rises. Usually this is caused after rain, as the water collected from the Bedford catchment area slowly drains down the River Ouse to St Ives and onward out to sea into the Wash. This happens between 3 and 4 days after heavy rain but can also be affected by high tides resulting in the water level at tidal Earith remaining high and therefore impeding the outflow to sea.

The field floods from three different sources

- via the adjacent stream bordering the site from water run-off from the NW, from Hilton and Papworth
- from the same stream when water flows UP from the river
- from the water-table which rises with sometimes extraordinary speed, turning a slightly boggy field into a 2' deep lake in 90-100 minutes.